Recycling and Up-Cycling Workshops – KS 1-4

Up-cycling is the process of converting discarded materials into useful products to reduce waste and help protect the environment

Up-cycled Notebook Online Workshop

We begin the workshop by discussing green issues in the home, at school, and in a global context. With the aid of an interactive presentation, we visit an award-winning building called ‘Earthship’ which is powered by renewable energy and is built from recycled materials.

After exploring the concepts involved, we examine a range of up-cycled objects and finish by making a visually unique notebook from old maps.

In this workshop we explore a number of topics and themes:

  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Science Week
  • Eco Week
  • Off-timetable Days
  • Waste
  • Renewable Energy
  • Climate Change
  • Recycling
  • Pollution
  • Citizenship
  • Sustainability
  • Eco School Awards
  • Human Impact
  • Materials
  • Science
  • Litter

This workshop lasts from 30 minutes to an hour with up to 15 pupils in each class. At the end of the session everyone will take a notebook home to enjoy.

Up-cycled Juice Carton Wallet Workshop

 

Small steps can add up to big changes. So let’s all learn to reduce our ecological footprint and help maximise our earth’s precious resources.

We open up a dialogue with the pupils to raise awareness on green issues coming up every day at home, in their school and out in the wider world. We will look at a variety of colourful up–cycled objects made from different materials followed by a Q&A session.

Making use of redundant materials challenges us to create new and useful objects from what we formerly regarded as rubbish. Our Up-cycling workshop uses the Tetra-Pack-to-wallet design to demonstrate the transformation. This example shows how discarded cardboard, aluminium and plastic can be used again to create a new object which is both durable and hard wearing. By the end of the session the pupils have learnt that we can all take part in making our world a cleaner and greener place to live.

In this workshop we explore a number of topics and themes:

  • Energy
  • Waste
  • Climate Change
  • Recycling
  • Pollution
  • Citizenship
  • Sustainability
  • Eco School Awards
  • Human Impact
  • Materials
  • Litter
  • Science
  • Eco week
  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Science Week
  • Eco Week
  • Off-timetable Days

This workshops lasts 45 minutes to an hour with up to 35 pupils in each class.  This activity is completed by crafting a juice carton wallet which can be taken home.

Litter Fish Workshop Key Stage

One of the fist subjects pupils mention when it comes to environmental topics is the issue of litter. 62% of people in England drop litter, although only 28% will admit to it. Clearing up the streets and green spaces in England alone costs £1 billion a year. There are not just direct costs involved with the dropping of litter, the RSPCA receives around 7,000 calls a year regarding animals that have been injured by litter; this includes pets as well as wildlife.
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Firstly, we explore the issues through an interactive presentation on the subject of litter in the UK and examining  single use plastics and their alternatives. Each pupil will then be invited to decorate a cork fish with colourful recycled scales they have made to bring awareness to the problem of litter in our surroundings. This highlights how we can all play a part in supporting a beautiful and healthy natural environment. The fish create eye-catching artworks which can be taken home or displayed in school. The main aim of this workshops is to raise young people’s awareness of the problem litter and the effect it has on our natural environment.
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In this workshop we explore a number of topics and themes:
  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Science Week
  • Oceans & Rivers
  • Eco Week
  • Off-timetable Days
  • Waste
  • Litter
  • Natural Materials
  • Recycling
  • Pollution
  • Citizenship
  • Sustainability
  • Eco School Awards
  • Human Impact
  • Science
  • Geography

This workshop lasts from 30 minutes to an hour with up to 35 pupils in each class. 

Up-cycled T-Shirt Beach Bag Workshop

Thriving on constant change, fast fashion instills a notion that clothes should be cheap and the only way to make this happen is to have the fabric and garments made in countries where wages and regulations can be kept to a minimum.

Fast fashion has caused a dramatic increase in the environmental damage caused by the textile industry during the recent past. This problem will certainly continue into the future unless awareness is raised among consumers with young people being one of the target groups of the fashion industry.

Pupils are encouraged to bring in an old or unloved T-shirt which then can be up-cycled into a beach bag. Spare T-shirts will be brought in on the day for those who forget or can’t find one to up-cycle.

In this workshop we explore a number of topics and themes:

  • Energy
  • Waste
  • Recycling
  • Fair Trade
  • Pollution
  • Citizenship
  • Sustainability
  • Eco School Awards
  • Human Impact
  • Materials
  • Science
  • Eco Week
  • PSHE
  • STEM
  • Off-timetable Days

This workshop lasts 60 minutes with up to 35 pupils in each class.  

  • I just wanted to say thank you again for the two days you spent with us. The girls really enjoyed their Up-cycling Workshops and have been inspired to look at waste in a different light. Several are already designing products to make out of rubbish. I feel it will really make a difference to the amount of waste we throw away as a school.    
    James Allen’s Preparatory School – Mrs Rachel Lynn – Eco Coordinator – East Dulwich Grove Girls School – London
  • This workshop was well organised and led effectively by Philip. The introduction included assessing children’s prior knowledge of environmental issues with a focus on where energy comes from. The children enjoyed looking at the products made from recycled materials, and they were very engaged in the group discussion about what they were made from.  The activity was explained clearly step by step at an appropriate level for for various ages. Help and advice were provided through the practice sessions. The children were proud of what they produced, the wallets were the talk of the playground. The children will have a permanent reminder of the lesson. As ECO Co-ordinator I feel I can build on this lesson for next year. The day has been fantastic! Thank you so much.
    Louise HampsonECO CO-ordinator – Swan Ridge Primary School
  • A huge ‘thank you’ to Philip Hunton (Green Up Your Act) for providing each and every class in our school with an entertaining and educational workshop for our Eco Day. In keeping with our theme of ‘Recycling Waste‘ the younger children enjoyed the ‘Green Shoots’ activity, finding out about the importance of composting and planting a seed in their own recycled pot. The older pupils had a great time learning all about ‘Upcycling’ and produced a recycled notebook to take home. We will certainly be inviting Philip back in the near future.
    Sue QuinnThe Granville Inderpendedt School Sevenoaks
  • Our Eco day was a thoroughly enjoyable day for all the girls at Streatham and Clapham. We were really lucky to have the company Green Up Your Act come in to carry out some fantastic workshops that encouraged the girls to think about the environment, and supply them with ideas on how to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle at home and school. The workshops were educational, hands on and lots of fun! The upcycled juice cartons were a particularfavorite. They were quick and easy to make and certainly sturdy enough to start using at break time for the tuck shop!
    Kate Webber Streatham and Clapham School for Girls
  • Green up your act helped out at the Dalrymple Primary School  during our Eco Week. Philip delivered an exciting “Green Shoots” workshop to the lower primary ages, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the children. He pitched the lesson well to suit the different needs and abilities, and the children especially enjoyed making their own paper pot with a seedling to take home. The upper school enjoyed looking at different objects made from recycled materials and then were guided through a craft activity, where they had a chance to make their own recycled notebook. Philip’s expertise has contributed towards making our Eco Week a huge success! Many thanks to Green Up Your Act.
    Lauren Mc NairDalrymple Primary school – Scotland
  • “Working with Green Up Your Act has been a great experience. From the first point of contact Philip was enthusiastic about our school’s 'Go-Green' work and had great ideas to help make it a successful project. The whole school, children and teachers alike, loved the assembly and it left us full of enthusiasm and the children who made up-cycled items had a great time. The up-cyling workshops were accessible to all children and they are using what they made and really proud that they have recycled. We look forward to working with Green Up Your Act again in the future.”                                                                                                                                                  
    Katherine Lamb Emmaville Primary School - Tyne & Wear
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